


Imagine

by scarletwanda



Category: Ariana Grande (Musician)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gay Panic, Inspired by an Ariana Grande Song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 06:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20466770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletwanda/pseuds/scarletwanda





	Imagine

‘When are you ever gonna learn, you can’t beat me.’ You shrugged, a sly smile on your face. Your friend groaned in frustration, putting her head back for dramatic effect. You were currently at a lesbian bar with a group of your friends. You had been super busy with school and work lately so you texted your friends that you desperately needed to get away from straight people for a night. They agreed and you all went out to the bar you guys always went to for a few drinks. 

Halfway through the night your friend, Eddie, dared you to a game of pool. Causing the rest of the group to roll their eyes. See the thing was, you were the reigning queen at pool. So far no one in the bar had ever beaten you, and it killed her. She was the most competitive person you ever met, and the fact that she just couldn’t beat you made her want to tear her hair out. So every time you went to the bar with your friends, she’d eventually ask you for a game of pool. Which always resulted in her getting angry. 

‘Alright,’ she exhaled. ‘Care to make it interesting ?’ You picked up your beer and took a sip. ‘I don’t think that’s possible at this point.’ She flipped you off with a big fake smile on her face. ‘Fine,’ you laughed. ‘What did you have in mind?’ 

‘If you win this round, I’ll never dare you to a pool match again.’ She began. The rest of your friends started talking over each other, saying things like: ‘please yes bring this to an end.’ ‘the reign of terror is over!’ And ‘finally! I can’t listen to Eddie’s shit anymore!’. She flipped them off too before continuing: ‘but,’ she put up her index finger. ‘If I win, you have to ask out a random girl at the bar.’ 

‘Are you guys still on that?’ You asked. ‘I told you I don’t wanna date for a while.’ You took another sip of your beer. Your friends had been pushing you to start dating again after a nasty breakup last fall. But between college and work and trying to get 7 hours of sleep it was just impossible. ‘Well then I guess all you have to do is win.’ She finished, a smug smile on her face.

The game had been playing for a while. A couple more bottles of beer had joined your first. And your friends were for once interested in what was going on. Not only because you were both doing pretty well - or pretty not well, since both of you were starting to get a little tipsy - but your friends kinda wanted to see who would win. On the one hand all they wanted was for Eddie never to challenge you to a game of pool again but they had been hammering you to start dating again, and they wanted you to have to ask someone out. 

The game was almost over. You had 1 more solid to get in the pocket. Eddie had two more stripes and it was her turn. She leaned back, the cue between her thumb and index finger. Her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration, one eye shut. You rolled your eyes playfully at how seriously she took this. She moved her cue a few times before hitting the black colored ball. Shooting one of her stripes perfectly into the pocket. ‘Yes!’ She exclaimed, one hand shooting in the air in victory. 

You walked around the table a little to figure out the best angle. It was the last solid you had to get in and you were confident you were gonna win this. The ball wasn’t in a very hard position, so you leaned back and put your cue in between your fingers. You were about to shoot the ball straight in the pocket when you looked up at a group of girls walking in. The girl at the front of the group caught your eye. Her long brown hair pulled back into a perfect ponytail. Her dress hugging her body perfectly, high heels clicking away against the lit up dance floor. She was making her way over to the bar, smiling widely at one of her friends telling her a story. You were mesmerized, this girl was _gorgeous._ Right at the moment you started moving your cue to your victory, she took away your attention, causing you to hit the black ball at the wrong angle, your last solid ball shooting over the table all the way to the other side. 

You heard Eddie cheer beside you, glad to have another shot at winning the game. But you didn’t care, you kept looking at the girl. Even after straightening up, you couldn’t look away from her. You saw one of her friends lean into her ear and say something, and you were about to feel a ping of jealousy before she looked over at you. Her friend had clearly caught you staring. You made eye contact, but even this didn’t make you look away. You smiled at her, which she returned with a shy smile of her own before looking away. 

You hadn’t noticed Eddie getting ready for her turn until you heard the familiar sound of a cue hitting a ball. You quickly looked down, the black ball rolling towards her last ball in the game. The moment almost movie-like as you watched your ‘unbeatable’ title disappear before your eyes. You still had a shot though, as long as the black ball didn’t roll into the pocket after her last…. ‘YES! I WON!’ She put her hands in the air, still holding her cue. She took the cue and lowered it to her mouth, giving it a victory kiss. 

‘SHIT!’ You yelled. You hadn’t been beaten in 3 years. Eddie had never once won from you, and now, not only was she gonna rub it in your face for a long time to come, you’d have to ask someone in the bar out. For a small second a little excitement flooded through you. Thinking that if there was ever a night to lose this bet it was tonight, the girl was still at the bar, looking over at you and your friends. And you were suddenly consumed with the thought of going over there and asking her out for a coffee. 

‘In your face!’ Eddie pointed a finger at you. Still celebrating her win, hugging all of your friends. Who in their turn looked kinda surprised at the outcome of the game. ‘You know what this means… so who are you gonna ask ?’ You shrugged, putting your cue down and trying to look as nonchalant as possible. You didn’t want your friends to know that you had already made up your mind. ‘Before I ask someone out, I congratulate you on your victory, you were a worthy opponent.’ You bowed down in front of her. ‘Another round on me!’ You said turning around, walking over to the bar with your friends cheering behind you. 

The girl was still there, and you were planning on standing as close to her as possible without saying anything. You wanted her to start the conversation, just so you’d know if she was interested. She was sitting with her back to the bar, you walked up next to her, your front to the bar, and waved at the bartender for another round. 

You kept your gaze onwards. Purposefully not looking at her, but in the corner of your eye you kept seeing her glance at you, as if she was waiting for you to make your move. You ran one hand through your hair. ‘So did you just lose over there?’ She finally spoke, her voice was pleasant, kinda small but not overly girly. You turned your gaze towards her and saw she had a small smile on her face. ‘Yeah, just got my ass kicked.’ You returned her smile. ‘I guess tonight is not your lucky night.’ You turned towards her, one elbow leaning on the bar. You looked at her for a moment, she was even more beautiful up close. And with a quick glance at her lips you answered: ‘I don’t know about that.’ 

-

That night at the bar was further spent talking to the girl from the bar. You found out her name was Ariana, and she was there to celebrate her friends birthday. You guys talked all night, and when it was time for her to leave she gave you her number. Showing it off to your friends proudly. You’d been texting for a few days, and she had invited you over to watch a movie together. When the movie started, you weren’t sitting close to each other, but as the movie progressed Ariana kept jumping up at scary parts and ended up a little closer to you than she was before. 

‘Jesus!’ She jumped again, this time practically landing in your lap. The thing is, when you arrived at her giant house in the hills, she had given you a little tour. Showing you the different rooms and some of her most prized possessions. One of which was her dvd collection. She had one room dedicated to this collection, with a giant book case against the opposite wall on which they were all presented. And, you had noticed, at least two of the four shelves were filled with horror movies. Why would someone who’s this scared of horror movies own so many of them ? The only conclusion you could come to was that she wasn’t really scared, but that she kept jumping up cause she needed an excuse to fill the gap between the two of you. Smiling to yourself, you put one arm around her. Your smile only widening when you felt her relax against you. 

The movie had ended, the credits still rolling. ‘Do you want another drink?’ She asked. She leaned forward, away from you, and you suddenly found yourself missing her warmth. ‘Uh,’ you cleared your throat. ‘Yeah sure.’ You sat up straight, Ariana coming back with two more drinks a moment later, handing you one. ‘Thanks.’ You said as she sat down next to you. 

You started talking for a while, about your lives, your work, your interests. You told her all about school and your job. And she told you all about hers, she was a singer, busy working on her debut album right now. The more you talked to her, the more you liked her. She was very sweet, and you guys had a lot of similar interests. All the things you were learning about her were adding to that moment you first saw her, that moment when you were star struck by her. The night wore on, and it was becoming pretty late, you knew you had to make your move soon. ‘So is your friend still rubbing her victory in your face?’ You smiled as she took a sip from her wine. You laughed softly: ‘I don’t think she’s ever gonna let that go. But I can take it… meeting you felt like a victory to me.’ Ariana set down her glass, a blush making its way to her cheeks. ‘I’m glad I met you too.’ Her voice was small, you knew it was now or never. You sat up and started leaning forward. Her face inches from yours. She didn’t move away, so you saw this as your sign to keep leaning in. But right before your lips touched she spoke: ‘I’m straight.’ 

\- 

It took you a moment to process the words coming out of her mouth. And it took you even longer to process what signs you might have missed. She was at a gay bar, gave you her number, invited you over, flirted with you, and let’s not forget she pulled the classic horror movie date. ‘What?’ Your furrowed your brows, your mind not catching up to her words quite yet. ‘I don’t know why I said that.’ Her voice was still small, your faces still close. You leaned back: ‘so you’re not straight ?’ 

She rested her elbows on her knees, putting her face in her hands. ‘No, I am. But I don’t know why I said that I am because I don’t believe myself.’ 

You blinked: ‘again.. I’m gonna have to go with: what?’ She stood up, pacing a little before stopping and letting out a big sigh. She turned to you and looked at you, her expression looked almost guilty.

‘I’m straight, at least I thought I was. I was at the bar with my friends who happened to be gay, but then I saw you and I don’t know you just.. I liked you, I wanted to get to know you. You seemed so confident and just cool and then you came over to the bar and you showed interest in me and I liked it.. and that’s why I gave you my number but ever since I’ve felt so guilty because I don’t like girls but I couldn’t stop talking to you and I wanted to invite you over so I did and then we watched a movie together and all I wanted was to be closer to you but then you tried to kiss me and I just feel guilty because I don’t know what the hell I’m doing and I don’t know what I’m feeling and I don’t think it’s fair that I just try to figure that out with you when you don’t even know about it-‘ 

‘Okay! Woah, Ariana. Breathe.’ You stood up, putting both your hands on her shoulders and giving them a reassuring squeeze. ‘That’s fine, it’s okay. You liked me and you wanted to pursue it but now it’s getting more serious and you don’t wanna lead me on. I appreciate that, I appreciate you telling me this. If you don’t wanna do anything, then we just don’t do anything. If you wanna be friends then that’s cool and if you wanna be more than you can tell me and we’ll figure it out together.’ 

Her eyes were a little watery, but her voice remained steady. Without breaking eye contact she said: ‘I think I have to figure this out for myself first. I need to see who I am outside of us.’ 

\- 

It had been a few weeks since that movie night at Ariana’s, and you hadn’t seen each other since. You’d only been in contact over the phone, sending the occasional ‘how are you’ text. And as weird as it was to say, you missed her. You had only seen her twice, but you missed her. You hadn’t been this excited about a girl since your last girlfriend and it had felt so good to be with Ariana. But you respected her decision to figure it out on her own for a while. 

You had ordered a coffee before heading to work, and you were now waiting for the barista to finish it when a girl walked up to you. ‘Y/N, right?’ She pointed a finger at you. You recognized the girl from that night at the bar, one of Ariana’s friends. ‘Yeah, hi. I’m sorry I didn’t get your name.’ ‘Alexa.’ You shook her hand. 

She continued: ‘I heard about you and Ariana.’ ‘Oh really? How is she doing?’ Alexa took out her phone to look at the time before shoving it in her back pocket. ‘To be honest, not that great. I know she told you that she wanted to figure it out on her own but she can’t focus at all. The only thing that’s clear is that she really likes you.’ You wished Ariana would just let you in, and Alexa seemed to agree with you, if the tone of her voice was anything to go by. 

‘She’s in the studio tonight, she’s planning to stay there till morning. I don’t know how you feel about it, but if I were you, I’d go and talk to her.’ She handed you a card, the address of the studio written on it in dark blue lettering. At that moment the barista yelled out Alexa’s name and she took her drink ready to exit the store. But not before saying ‘good luck’ and winking at you. 

So now you found yourself in front of the building complex that held Ariana’s studio. You had gotten two coffees - grande size of course - and a few vegan donuts. You took a deep breath and exited the car. The drinks and foods in your hand. You walked into the studio, hearing a beautiful voice coming from the booth. You realized you hadn’t heard her sing before, and you couldn’t believe the angelic voice that was coming out of this small girl. 

You set the drinks and donuts down on the table before sitting on the backrest of the couch. Ariana stopped singing when you walked in, but she still couldn’t see you. She wrote a few things down on a notepad next to her before taking off her headphones and walking out of the booth towards the studio. She stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing you. Putting one hand on her chest. ‘Jesus you scared me. What are you doing here?’ 

‘I ran into Alexa, she told me you were spending the night here so I thought you might need some coffee to get you through it.’ She walked over to you, gratefully taking the coffee and sitting down next to you before taking a sip. ‘You have a beautiful voice.’ Her eyes widened a bit. ‘How much did you hear?’ 

‘Not much, just a few words.’ There was a small pause before you continued: ‘how are you?’ She chuckled ‘if you ran into Alexa I’m pretty sure you already know, she begged me to call you.’ 

‘Yeah she did tell me you weren’t getting very far on the figuring it out front.’ 

‘Not really, I don’t know who I am, the only thing I do know is that I want you to be part of who I am.’ 

‘I’m not great with speaking about my feelings, I’m better at writing them down, I wrote a song about you.’ 

You sat straighter, surprised that she wrote a song about you. ‘Really?’ Your voice a little higher than normal. 

‘You wanna hear it?’ 

‘Of course I do!’ 

She walked over to the computer sitting on one of the desks, cueing up the track. The song started off hushed, but at the same time very compelling. 

Her beautiful voice began to sing, and not long after the refrain started. 

_Imagine a world like that_

_Imagine a world like that_

_We go like up till I’m asleep on your chest_

_Love how my face feels so good in your neck _

_Why can’t you imagine a world like that_

_Imagine a world like that _

You were so caught up in the song, you didn’t notice Ariana staring at you. Scared of your reaction. 

_Knew you were perfect after the first kiss_

_Took a deep breath like, “Ooh”_

_Feels like forever, baby, I never thought that it would be you_

_Tell me your secrets, all of the creep shit_

_That’s how I know it’s true_

_Baby, direct it, name in the credits_

_Like the movies do_

The song ended. Ariana held in her breath as she waited for your response. You turned towards her, your brows furrowed, and Ariana feared the worst. ‘I don’t understand one of your lines.’ 

‘Which one?’ Her voice soft. ‘In the second verse, you say you knew I was perfect after the first kiss, but we haven’t had it yet.’ 

‘Oh well-‘ She was cut off by your lips on hers. Your hands coming up to cup her face. She kissed you back after the initial shock. All of her worries and doubts washed off her at once. This was it, this is what she wanted for the rest of her life. She was gonna explain that she wrote that line because of how she imagined your first kiss. But now it was all coming true, and the line being about a real event instead of just her thoughts made the song that much more impactful. 

You pulled back for air after a minute, your hands still cupping her face. ‘Did I live up to expectations?’ Your voice barely above a whisper. The corners of her mouth went up, reaching her eyes. ‘Very much.’ 

You let go of her face, your hands going to take her hands instead. ‘Ariana I know you said you wanted to figure it out yourself but I don’t see why you’re torturing yourself. If you wanna be with me, than just be with me.’ 

‘How are you so confident in your sexuality ?’ You chuckled. ‘Well I’ve had a few years to adjust. So… what do you say?’ 

You looked down at your still intertwined hands and then up at you. Her eyes filled with love, the corners creaked because of her smile. She leaned forwards, capturing your lips in a sweet kiss. ‘Let’s do this.’ 

‘Oh by the way,’ her look pretty serious all of a sudden. ‘I love horror movies, and they don’t scare me at all, I just wanted to sit next to you.’ You laughed and put your arm around her, her head falling on your shoulder. You gave her temple a kiss before saying: ‘yeah I kinda figured.’ 


End file.
